3:58.25! Drew Hunter Becomes Second Sub-4:00 High Schooler In The Mile Indoors Thanks To 57-Second Final 400

A week after destroying the U.S. high school 3,000-meter record, Drew Hunter made history again, running 3:58.25 in the mile at Saturday’s Armory Track Invitational in New York to smash Alan Webb‘s U.S. high school indoor record of 3:59.86, set on the same track 15 years ago. Hunter’s time was the fastest by any high schooler, indoors or out, since Webb’s 3:53.43 at the 2001 Prefontaine Classic. He now joins Webb and 1968 Olympic silver medalist Jim Ryun (3:55.3) as the only high schoolers to run under 3:59.

Hunter considered scratching after he came down with a respiratory infection on Thursday and was coughing through his last workout before the race. But after pounding green tea and echinacea on Friday, the senior at Loudoun Valley (Va.) High School decided to stay in the race and was rewarded for his decision.

Hunter spent much of the race near the back of the lead pack, allowing the professional runners ahead of him to drag him along. He hit 409 meters in 60.78 seconds and came through 809 in 2:00.52. Chris O’Hare of the B.A.A. and Great Britain took over the lead and began to string out the pack during the second half of the race, with Hunter desperately trying to hang on to Loyola alum Sam Penzenstadler at the back of the lead pack. Hunter hit 1209 in 3:01.17 and the chase for sub-4:00 was on in earnest.

Hunter celebrates moments after the scoreboard confirmed his sub-4:00

O’Hare broke the field the final 400 and was on his way to an easy victory up front, but all eyes were on Hunter, who could sense the record within his grasp. He ran 28.84 for his penultimate lap and hit the bell in 3:30.02. Did he have anything left for the record?

Most definitely. Just like last week, Hunter kicked hard over the final 200 and by the time he entered the home stretch, he was kicking with five other guys to sort out the places behind O’Hare, who won in 3:54.59. Hunter was pretty sure he had gotten under the barrier, raising his hands in jubilation as he crossed the line in seventh place, but he didn’t launch into until a full celebration immediately. Instead, he stood at the start of the first turn, eyes transfixed on the scoreboard while O’Hare and fellow pros Craig Forys and Daniel Winn offered encouragement.

After a 20-second wait, the scoreboard made it official: a 28.24-second final lap had given Hunter a 3:58.25 final time, shaving over a second and a half over Webb’s previous HS indoor record. Winn threw his hands up as O’Hare embraced Hunter, whose expression suggested equal parts joy and relief.

“I thought I got the record, but you’re not 100 percent sure until you see the board,” Hunter told USATF.tv. “I saw 3:58.25 and I didn’t know what to do.”

Drew Hunter Thinks He Has It At the Finish (And would throw up his hands)

Hunter will return to New York in two weeks to run another mile at the Millrose Games (in the B heat, not the Wanamaker Mile) and said that he’d like to go even faster in that one.

“I didn’t really expect to run under 4:00 [today],” Hunter said. “I’m just getting things going. But I’m in really good shape, I have one more mile race and I want to run faster now.”